Career no longer seems to be the priority for the majority of new generation job seekers. Work-life balance is now more important than ever, according to the recent Working Together survey, from the Regroupement des jeunes chambres de commerce du Québec (RJCCQ). It is also one of the main criteria for both current employees and for people looking for work.
Last September, the RJCCQ unveiled the results of a survey, conducted in collaboration with the Léger firm, which portrays the expectations and professional needs of workers under age 35. According to published data, 62% of respondents prefer to prioritize their personal life over their career. Only 6% would bet on their career in the first place.
Remote work and personal life
Notably, the data showed that the youngest employees wanted to continue working from home (66% at all times, and 33% using a hybrid model) in order to save time that could be invested in the development of their skills and their personal projects.
For young people, working at home primarily enables them to better reconcile work and personal life, a reality defined by many as non-negotiable when looking for a job. Thus, 71% of respondents consider work-life balance to be a key consideration when choosing an employer, a trend that has been increasing over the past two years. Most importantly, this major group of young professionals finds that working from home avoids wasting time travelling to the office and helps them to make use of the hours they have for their personal and family life.
Quiet Quitting Trend
This focus on work-life balance goes along with the trend toward quiet quitting, which Generations Y and Z have greatly contributed to in the United States. This phenomenon means that a person performs only the minimum tasks required by his position, without doing more.
The principle behind quiet quitting is therefore to focus on the time spent with people that matter to them, while reducing the risk of suffering from burnout. Those who subscribe to this trend of “disengagement” from work place more importance on things outside of their job, never work overtime, have no ambition to move up in the ranks, and put their own well-being above everything.